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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26523730">Zombies? Didn't See That Coming</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DirtyLion/pseuds/DirtyLion'>DirtyLion</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adventure, F/M, Idiots in Love, Magical Creatures, Romance at some point, Ten Years Later, Work Together, Zombies, slow burn?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:42:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,166</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26523730</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DirtyLion/pseuds/DirtyLion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A decade after the war Draco and Hermione are work partners and they seem to have finally met their match when a string of zombie attacks start to plague the magical world. The problem is the zombies seem to behave as if they came straight out of the big screen. Adventure, slow buuuurn, humor, and awkward situations of course.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Bigger on the Inside</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This just happens to be the first fanfic I've ever written so do be gentle (and patient) with me. I am learning. Even though I am an avid harry potter fanfic reader I actually haven't read the book in probably over ten years. Hmm that makes me sound old. ANYways if I have gotten anything wrong feel free to let me know. I hope you enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The humidity was suffocating and had put Draco in a right foul mood. It was sweltering hot as he trudged through the forests of Japan. His hand went up to his forehead to shield the sun from his eyes as he looked around at his surroundings. His partner was ahead of him being far too perky for his liking. He had been staring at the back of her head for the better part of the day. “I think it has grown.”</p><p>“What are you on about Malfoy?” Hermione asked as she maneuvered around the foliage, careful not to get her map caught in the offshoots. She was a little surprised when he spoke. He had been quiet the whole day. She knew it was because he had been pouting. He was being forced to do a job that didn’t involve doing anything exciting.</p><p>He walked closer to her and grabbed a tendril of her hair, “your bird’s nest here. I think it has grown.”</p><p>She casually swatted his hand away, “yeah I know. The humidity hates me.” Brushing over her hair she felt how out of control it had gotten and she stopped to try and tie it back into a bunch. When she was done fiddling with it she moved her hands out of the way, “eh, better?”</p><p>He gave her a small shrug and started off in front of her, “yeah, if better means worse.” He lied. Her hair looked fine even before she touched it. </p><p>She chose to ignore him. He seemed to be in a mood where he wanted to start a fight from nothing. He did however take over clearing the brush from the path. A little more aggressively than she would have but it gave her shins a break from all the low branches that had been attacking her for the past few hours. </p><p>He pushed through some tree seeming to know where he was going even though he had never been there before. His ability to navigate places made her miffed. Partially since she was awful at directions and partially because she was sure he didn’t know either he just had really good luck.</p><p>It wasn’t long before Malfoy stopped, “I think we are here.”</p><p>She turned the topographic map from side to side confused, “how do you know?” The Mitsuishi River was luckily not that long. The river only stretched for roughly a hundred kilometers. She wasn’t the most knowledgeable when it came to Japan but she made the decision to only request a day pass. She couldn’t see them needing to stay any longer for what they were doing… hopefully.</p><p>The Japanese Ministry of Magic followed suit with its muggle counterpart after the second non-magical world war. Their entire governmental structure had been remodeled to imitate that of the western world. They held a similar strict policy of the United States when it came to using magic. It had taken them weeks to fill out all the proper papers and finally get just a simple permit for a day's use with their wands in the country. </p><p>“Consider it intuition.” He watched as she walked past him not paying much attention, “Granger.”</p><p>His serious tone made her put the map down. Spotting the issue, she said,” oh.” Her feet were on the edge of the river. </p><p>“Please be careful. I don’t want you falling in.” </p><p>Before all the words left his mouth, he watched as the sand started to slide under her weight. </p><p>“Oh crap!” Hermione didn’t have time to catch herself as she fell. She threw the map and her wand behind her in a last-ditch attempt to keep from losing them in the water.</p><p>Amused, he didn’t move as he watched her fall in. He waited a minute expecting to see her head pop back up. She was completely capable of taking care of herself and had seen her get out a whole lot worse than a river. The minute went by and his curiosity turned into concern. </p><p>“Damnit Granger. I didn’t want to get wet today.” He made his way down to the water and waded after her. When he got to the spot where she went under, he was only waist deep. Why hadn’t she stood up?</p><p>Suddenly her hand flung up in an attempt to grab a hold of something and he sloshed towards her. Snatching her hand in his he tried to pull her head above the water but something strong was keeping her pinned down. </p><p>“What the hell,” frantically his eyes darted around to locate what was causing the problem. He stopped when he made eye contact with a green scaled creature as it surfaced from the river. He thought it looked a lot like a monkey. He was sure at some point he had learned about the creature but at the moment the information wasn’t coming back to him. It had its claws dug into her as it held her under. </p><p>“I can see why she appealed to you, but I sort of need her back,” he flung water everywhere as he gave a hard kick to the creature's face. While the thing lost its balance, he yanked her free from its grasp. Hermione shot to the surface letting out a loud gasp as she sucked in air.</p><p>Draco quickly hoisted Hermione out of the water and they both stumbled onto the shore. Hermione was on her hands and knees as she coughed up water. She rolled over in time to see the creature slowly wading out after them. Draco grabbed her around the waist again to get her to her feet. They both backed away as the thing had its eyes set on Hermione.</p><p>She pushed her wet hair out of her face to finally get a good look at what had tried to kill her. Recognizing it immediately as a Kappa she put her hand out. Palm facing the creature. It stopped approaching and held eye contact with her, curious. </p><p>“Hermione?” Malfoy asked slowly as he moved out of the way.</p><p>“Shh, it’s a Kappa. I know what I’m doing,” she whispered, barely moving her lips.</p><p>Carefully she started to lower her head. Kappa’s similar to Hippogriffs liked respect and polite etiquette. Most of the time bowing to a Kappa would lead to it returning the bow. The small dish indented in its head held water and if the Kappa bowed the water would empty. Without the water it would become weaker and more docile.</p><p>The Kappa after a moment of consideration seemed to have accepted Hermione' bow and chose to engage in the process. Draco watched carefully. He trusted her in her abilities, but he never liked to take chances. Now that she had pointed out what it was, he remembered that the locals considered them as river demons and that iron would kill one. </p><p>Hermione due to the lack of time had not been fully aware of her surroundings. She had positioned herself right in front of a tree that was half uprooted and falling over to the side. When she moved slightly to readjust her weight her foot caught on a protruding root. She tried to catch herself but ended up falling backwards against the tree. </p><p>The Kappa’s head shot up in surprise before the water spilled from the dish. Its eyes narrowed in anger and charged at her snarling. </p><p>"Oh shit," Hermione braced herself for the creature to sink itself back into her. </p><p>Malfoy came up behind it with an iron spike and impaled the creature through the back. Slicing through it completely with the spike protruding out its chest. Little specks of blood landed on her face.</p><p>She watched wide eyed as it slumped to the ground, “Malfoy! What the hell did you just do?”</p><p>After making sure it wasn't moving anymore, he held his hand out to help her up, “that’s an interesting way of saying thank you Granger.”</p><p>She took his hand and he hoisted her up, “you killed it.”</p><p>“It was going to kill you.”</p><p>“I was going to pacify the situation without needing to stab it,” she walked over to the side of the river and retrieved her wand from where she dropped it. The map was gone having floated off into the water.</p><p>“Yeah and then circumstances changed, and I stepped in. I’m not going to apologize that it’s dead. I’d rather have a dead creature over a dead partner,” he pulled the iron spike of the creature's body. He cringed at the squelch sound that the spike made.</p><p>Hermione waved her wand and mumbled the hot-air charm on herself. Once she was dry, she walked over to Malfoy and repeated the process. Normally he would have enjoyed being dried off but with how hot it already was the hot air from the charm just made it worse. </p><p>“Well I’m glad that you didn’t let me drown. I know how much you hate getting wet,” she said.  </p><p>She walked back over to the Kappa and knelt down next to it. She carefully rolled it over and closed its eyes. This one would probably weigh on her for a while. Taking a deep breath, she contained her emotions. Sometimes this happened. It was a casualty of the job. It just hurt because it had been her fault. She just couldn’t stomach hurting creatures that didn’t know any better. They were the ones that had been marching around its territory. It was only defending itself. </p><p>After another moment of silence, she slowly stood back and looked over at Malfoy. He was leaning against a tree. </p><p>He had been waiting as she did what she needed to do, “stop looking so sad Granger. You're going to make me wanna apologize.”</p><p>“Would that be so bad?”</p><p>“Yeah it would be. I didn’t do anything wrong.”</p><p>She nodded sadly, “I know.” He never had any problems with making the difficult decisions and she was thankful for that most of the time. It had gotten them out of a lot of difficult situations in the past.</p><p>He reframed from groaning as he saw that she was probably going to be in this mood for a while. In an attempt to get her mind onto something else he said, “let's just get what we came for so we can leave. I think I’ve started to sweat. Which is something I didn’t think I could do.”</p><p>Knowing what he was attempting to do she let him change the subject. “I just have to get the vile out,” she pulled her bag out of her pocket. </p><p>Malfoy walked over and peered into her bag as she rummaged through everything, “what in the hell Granger. Why do you have an entire portrait in there?”</p><p>She at least had the decency to be embarrassed, “I really haven't cleaned this out since I put the undetectable extension charm on it.” She continued to push stuff around looking for the glass vile. </p><p>Reaching in he tried to snag something out of it as he asked, “I’m guessing you haven’t gotten the Ministry to sign off on using that charm?”</p><p>She swatted his hand away, “technically no. In my defense though at the time the Ministry wasn’t to be trusted.” </p><p>“So, the war?”</p><p>She hesitated with her rummaging “maybe...”</p><p>He let out a laugh, “you've been carrying this around collecting stuff in it for over ten years? What’s going to happen when the spell wears off and all this shit comes bursting out?”</p><p>“Ah! I found it,” she pulled the vile out and she walked back over to the river. “I’ve been meaning to clean it out. I just haven’t got around to it.”</p><p>“Try not to fall in this time,” he told her while she crouched and scooped up some water. “So, who’s the painting of that you have in there?”</p><p>She corked the vile and handed it to him, “probably be safer if you hold onto this. It’ll take forever to find it if I put it back into my purse and the painting is of Phineas Nigellus Black.”</p><p>“Why do you have a painting of one of my ancestors in your purse?” he put the vile in his pocket.</p><p>“At the time it was important that I kept him hidden but now I’ve just neglected putting him back in Grimmauld Place.”</p><p>He extended his arm to her as he pulled out his wand to take them back to the Japanese Ministry, “that is a story I wouldn’t mind hearing but first let get out of here. You need to tend to your bleeding.” </p><p>She grabbed a hold of his arm in agreement so he could take them away from the wilderness.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. He gives away her comfy chair?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Look at that! I have chapter two for you. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They walked together through the bustling crowds of Diagon Alley. Looking upon all the shops that she had visited as a child it was hard to believe there had been a time where the streets were vacant and deserted. </p><p>Those had been dark times. </p><p>Most of the shop owners had come back but some of her childhood hangouts hadn’t survived the war. Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour had been one of those places. The shop now looking almost unrecognizable.</p><p>Her and Malfoy rented a space of their own that had been squeezed into the alley between Markus Scarrs Indelible Tattoos that sat on the corner of Knockturn Alley and Flimflam's Lanterns that was on Horizont Alley. The previous owner was able to stick the small shop between the two with magic. It was skirting the edge of Knockturn Alley so not many people knew they were there.</p><p>That wasn’t the point of their business though. Those who truly needed they’re aid knew how to find them. The magic was very similar to how the Knights Bus worked. It however wasn’t the most profitable job. She was sure that the building probably had better days, but she had never had the privilege of seeing that. The owner had stopped keeping up on it and then in the end tried to rent it out. Lucky for him it had been the only place that they could afford. </p><p>Malfoy stuck his key into the lock and spotted another notice stuck to the door. He snatched it and stuffed it into his pocket before entering. He dropped his bags onto the floor of the entrance room. </p><p>Hermione followed him in, “was that another notice to pay rent?”</p><p>“Yeah when we get paid for this job we’ll have enough,” he said absently as he picked up the mail they got slid under the door while they were gone. </p><p>She walked into the back office and started unpacking her things. The past weeks had ended up being oddly stressful and now that they accomplished the task, she was completely knackered. </p><p>Dragging her feet, she went back into the entrance room. She let out a yawn, “okay well I think I’m going to head home and try to fix my sleep schedule. I’ll see you tomorrow Malfoy.” </p><p>Draco was amused by her sudden change in mood, “just crash here.” He was extremely tired as well and he couldn’t imagine trying to apparate somewhere. He lived in the flat upstairs. </p><p>Hermione debated his offer. A month ago, she wouldn’t have thought twice about. They stayed in close quarters often enough. Recently though regrettably she somehow ended up with a crush on her work partner. </p><p>Apparently, she took too long answering because he was already carrying her things up the stairs. He called out over his shoulder, “I’ll transfigure the couch into a bed for you for the night.”</p><p>Upstairs was neat and minimalistic. It was very different from how her flat looked. She loved keeping everything she had come across in her life, especially her book collection. Draco on the other hand didn’t like to keep things that weren’t necessary. If she hadn't known that he had been living there for the last few years she could have made the assumption that he just moved in. </p><p>He set her bags down by the couch before turning it into a bed for her. She looked at all the blankets that appeared with it. He knew her too well. </p><p>“Thanks Malfoy,” she mumbled half-heartedly as she slumped onto the bed. </p><p>He was already on his way to his own bedroom, “don’t worry about it.” With that his door shut and she was alone to groan loudly into a pillow. </p><p>She flipped over and stared at the ceiling. What had her life come to where she was secretly lusting after Draco Malfoy. They had been working together for the last three years and things had been fine until recently. It started a month ago when they were in their office. </p><p>
  <i>She had been at her desk deep in research for their current client. A large crash pulled her from her work as she watched Malfoy barge into their joint office only moments later drenching wet. If he hadn’t been so angry, she would have laughed, “are you alright?”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"No, I'm fucking soaked," he pulled off his button up shirt leaving him in his white under shirt. He hadn't been lying; he was definitely soaked. The shirt clung to him leaving nothing to the imagination. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Her eyes grew a fraction with surprise when she realized she had been checking him out. He was fit! It would make sense. Their job was an extremely physical occupation and he did most of the heavy lifting. He was just normally so private. She couldn’t remember ever seeing him showboat himself or catching him not fully put together.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Grumbling, he left the room again and she followed him. Walking into the small bathroom she saw that the cabinet that she had hung above the sink had fallen and broken the faucet making it spray water everywhere. Now she understood why he was so mad. The cabinet was a piece of junk that she had found out in the back-alley trash can and decided to repurpose it.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“This is why I told you to not bring garbage into the office,” he watched her assess the situation. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Reparo,” she spoke clearly. Waving her wand, she fixed the faucet.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“It’s not funny,” he said with his arms crossed.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I wasn’t laughing.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I can see it all over your face.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Whatever. Stop being a baby about it.” </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Then just like that he went upstairs and cleaned himself up. </i>
</p><p>After that encounter she had found herself trying to catch him when he wasn't prepared and with his guard down. </p><p>The only thing she had come to realize was that he was extremely good at being prepared for all sorts of things. Even back in Japan when he ended up having to get in the water to look for her. He wore two layers. Who does that out in the heat? She stared at the dark ceiling after turning over. She must be very desperate if she would stoop so low as to try and catch a glimpse of him without a shirt. </p><p>Luckily, she was already so worn out that she didn’t have to suffer long before sleep took her. A restless sleep. One that took her back over a decade. </p><p>
  <i>Her cheek pressed against the beautiful cold marble floor. She stared off motionless. The tears streaming down her face puddled on the floor. Bellatrix sat on top of her wand pressed against her head, “you filthy little thief. How did you get into my vault!”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Bellatrix didn’t wait for her response. She sat up away from Hermione's face and pushed her wand roughly into her neck, “crucio!”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>The pain was instant. It felt like her body was consumed with fire as it rapidly moved from the place where the spell hit to the outer parts of her body. The scream that erupted from her didn’t sound human. A wounded beast. At some point her senses shut down and she stopped hearing and seeing things. Her body thrashed and contorted under the weight of the Death Eater, but she no longer felt. No. She forced her eyes open to glare defiantly. Again, and again she would take the pain. She would lose her mind before she gave them anything.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Bellatrix didn’t disappoint. The curse left her mouth more than a dozen more times in her attempt to break her.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>When the fire resided in her bones the only thing, she could recognize was the taste of metal in her mouth. She wasn’t sure how much time passed but the next thing she remembered she was again staring at the flawless white marble floor. This time no tears fell. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Granger?” The sound was soft. She was confused none of the death eaters knew her name. Enough time passed that she thought maybe she imagined it.</i>
</p><p>“Hermione.” It felt like someone pulled her off the floor and when she opened her eyes she stared into the very worried face of Draco Malfoy. </p><p>“Malfoy?” her voice was hoarse.</p><p>He didn’t say anything. Just watched as silent tears fell from her face. </p><p>“It was Bellatrix. I haven’t had a nightmare in so long,” she attempted to explain afraid he could be mad for waking him.</p><p>Draco remembered that time well. It also haunted his dreams from time to time. He attempted to get up from the edge of bed. After having to relive that he figured he was the last person she wanted to see.</p><p>The timid shaky hand that reached out and grabbed his shirt surprised him.</p><p>“Can you stay with me for a bit? Until I fall asleep,” she asked.</p><p>This was uncharted territory. He knew she relied on him for a lot of things and vice versa. It’s what made them work so well together but this was intimate. He nodded slowly and climbed into the bed with her. Hesitantly he wrapped his arm around her. A line was definitely crossed.</p><p>The next morning, she woke up alone in bed. She remembered what she asked Malfoy the previous night and covered her face in anguish glad he wasn’t still lying with her. She must have been really exhausted to have a nightmare. It had been a long time since the war had haunted her dreams. </p><p>Malfoy walked in with his arms crossed, “about time you’ve woken? Did you forget that you have a job to do?”</p><p>Hermione groaned and sat up further, “sorry about last night.”</p><p>He shrugged as a reply. He wasn’t interested in bringing the previous night back up. It had been awkward for him waking up entangled with Granger. </p><p>“Don’t just shrug. I know that you didn’t want to so thanks for not being awful.”</p><p>“We all get plagued every once in a while, just don’t make a habit of it okay?”</p><p>“I’ll do my best Malfoy.” She stood and picked up her bag. “I’ll be back in an hour for our meeting with our client.” She stuck her wand out and apparated away.</p><p>Keeping to her word she arrived back at the shop under the hour feeling awake and refreshed. She brought two cups of steaming hot tea. </p><p>“Here you go,” she handed his tea to him. “Has Mr. Silverthorne shown up yet?”</p><p>Sipping his tea, he didn’t look up from the book he was reading, “nope.”</p><p>Settling down next to him in her own chair she decided that reading wasn’t a bad way to pass the time until their client showed up.</p><p>Vestor Silverthorne walked in and observed the two, “my my quite the studious pair.”</p><p>Hermione set her book down, “Mr. Silverthorne welcome! Malfoy get him a chair and I’ll grab what we gathered.”</p><p>Not pleased with being ordered around he made sure to find the most uncomfortable chair and switched it with Hermione’s, “here sir you can hers. It’s much more comfortable.”</p><p>Hermione walked back in and noticed the chair switch. Glaring at him so he knew that he would hear about it later she set the file and sample of water down for Vestor. “I hope this is to your liking. It was oddly more difficult to get a hold of than we first anticipated.”</p><p>“Well that is why I hired you guys. You came highly recommended and you didn’t disappoint. It has been a pleasure, thank you.” Gathering his stuff up he passed over the galleons that he owed.</p><p>Saying goodbye, she waved him out of the shop. Once he was out of eyesight she rounded on Malfoy, “really? Was it necessary to be this petty?” She gestured towards the chair.</p><p>“It is when I am ordered around like a common elf.”</p><p>“Just be prepared for when I decide that I wanna be that petty.” She counted up the galleons, “look at that we can pay rent and only a week late at that!”</p><p>“I’m sure our landlord will be overjoyed,” Draco gathered the money up so he could send it off.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I don't have a schedule for chapter releases but hopefully it's frequently</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Ottoman</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Granger!” Malfoy yelled at her as he slammed a file folder on the desk.</p><p>Hermione's head snapped up from the note taking that she was doing, “sorry were you saying something?”</p><p>“I don’t pay you to ignore me,” he fell elegantly into the chair across from her. </p><p>She sat up straighter, “you’re not my boss. We’re partners. We technically pay ourselves and we suck at it because we barely make enough to pay our bills.”</p><p>He kicked his legs up on the desk, “Granger I never took you as a materialistic kind of person.”</p><p>She had opened the file he had startled her with. She looked up from it, “I think there's a difference between paying my bills on time and wanting a lot of stuff. You know that I still work part time as a research analyst at the Ministry so I can pay for my flat.”</p><p>He relaxed against the chair and was on his way to nodding off, “well I’m completely content with the way things are. I get to make my own hours and take as many naps as I want during the day.” With that statement he fell silent.</p><p>
  <i>Three years ago, he had a real shit start to his morning as he entered the Ministry where he ducked into the lift before anyone could see him. Not that many actively looked for him but nowadays he preferred to stay under the radar. He got off the lift at the second level of the basement just to march down a flight of stairs to the third level. He was in a foul mood and he took it out on the innocent wet floor sign that was in the hallway by kicking it over as he walked past. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Slamming his office door open he took off his wet coat and threw it over the top of an unused chair that sat in the corner of his cluttered dusty office. The room had two desks because he was supposed to have a partner but he didn’t work well with others and proved it over the years by scaring off any of the poor fools his boss could manage to scrounge up to come work for him. The desk was now just pushed against the wall being used to hold old books and stacks of files and Ministry memos that he never read. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Flopping not so elegantly into his office chair he propped his feet on his desk making some papers fall to the ground. Closing his tired eyes, he mentally cursed how much he hated Mondays. It wasn’t even eight in the morning and he already had to run, get into a physical altercation that ended up with him and the suspect on the wet ground and the worst part was that the suspect got away in the end. So now he was sore, wet, and empty handed. Grumbling he drifted off into an uneasy nap. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>He woke up to an awful screeching noise, “what the fuck?!” He opened his eyes and looked around the room. His shit excuse for a boss was in his office attempting to pull the extra desk away from the wall.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Reed what the hell are you doing?” he asked, not moving from his spot.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Reed let out a huff obviously out of shape and trying to move the heavy desk was proving it, “Malfoy I don’t think you're in any position to be demanding answers from me. If you hadn’t been sleeping on the job you could have been reading the memo I sent you. Then you would know I got someone to fill the job opening. Which means I need this desk cleaned off and ready for when they show up to work.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Draco’s scowl deepened. Somehow the day kept getting worse, “what ignorant fool did you con into the job this time?”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Reed, slightly out of breath hoisted his khakis back up, “if you didn’t scare every single person away, I wouldn’t be so desperate to fill the position.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I do the job just fine. They just end up getting in the way”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“I don’t think that will be the case this time. Now clean your shit off this desk and move it back to where it needs to be.” He clapped the dust off his hands before he bounded out of the office. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Draco looked over at the mess on the other desk before promptly ignoring it. He didn’t know who Reed tricked but he knew they wouldn’t last. They never did.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>He found the case file that he was working on and was about to re-analyze it to try and figure out where his person of interest from this morning could possibly be hiding out at. Maybe he missed something. He was stopped by a soft cough at the entrance of the door. Looking up he made eye contact with the last person he would ever think to be standing in his door. Hiding his surprise, he frowned, “Granger are you lost? Last I checked the Aurors worked on Level 2.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>Her face hardened, “yeah and last I checked Malfoys didn't work.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Times change,” he bit out before looking back at his file. “So, what did I do to deserve you gracing my presence?” he asked.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>She let out a huff, “I was told this was my office however it wasn’t mentioned that it would have a vermin infestation.”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>His face fell as he looked back up at her, “you’re who Reed hired?”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>At the mention of his name Reed came back in, “oh good you guys have met.” Standing behind Hermione Reed gave Draco a very self-satisfied smile. He knew Hermione had the willpower and intelligence to keep up and tolerate Draco. He also knew Draco was fuming over that fact. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Hermione stood in the doorway trying to contain her shock. She had not expected Malfoy to be here of all places. She hadn’t seen him since the end of the war. She had honestly forgotten about him throughout the years assuming he had just locked himself away in his manor. He had changed a lot. The scowl on his face was the same but the way he dressed was very different from the done-up attire he used to prance around in. He was wearing muggle clothes for Grodric’s sake. She couldn't hold it back any longer, she started to laugh. They both looked at her like she was crazy. Maybe she was. Just last week she was working on a high-profile case as an Auror and now she was working out of a basement doing a job no one knew existed with a muggle clothed Malfoy. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>"Sorry, it's just that my circumstances that I've found myself in are a bit ridiculous and I couldn't help myself but laugh a bit," she explained.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"Glad to see that at least you find this amusing. I however am busy," he gestured to the file in his hands as he strode out of the office.</i>
</p><p>Then three years later they had somehow managed to not kill each other and ended up with a sort of semblance of friendship. </p><p>She looked at the clock to see how much time had passed since the last time she looked at it. They still didn’t get much work. She stared at Malfoy. His head had fallen back a bit when he fell asleep. She watched his Adam Apple move with his even breathing and then her eyes traveled lower. She shifted in her seat and she let her imagination get away from her. He always was so modest. She accidentally let her quill fall out of her hand and the sound startled her out of her thoughts. Malfoy stirred and she turned bright red. When he didn’t wake, she let out a little sigh of relief before getting up and going into their office. </p><p>--</p><p>Draco blinked his eyes open lazily when he heard the front door open. He noticed Granger wasn’t in the room anymore. He sat up and made eye contact with a tiny stick of a man. “Can I help you?” he asked, unsure why the man chose to just stand there and not say anything. </p><p>The man dabbed sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief, “are you Draco Malfoy?”</p><p>Draco nodded slowly, “yeah.” He was not used to people not recognizing him or maybe he said it out of formality. </p><p>“Is your partner here?” he asked while continuing to act nervous.</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Do you mind getting her? I would like to talk to both of you,” the man asked.</p><p>“No,” he crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair.</p><p>Granger walked out at the moment, “is someone here Malfoy?” She took in the scene in the front room. Seeing that man was extremely uncomfortable looking she automatically glared at Malfoy.</p><p>“Does it make it better if I said that he was like this when he came in,” Malfoy asked.</p><p>Before she could respond the man introduced himself, “hello. I am Ignatius Twigg.”</p><p>“Hi, I’m Hermione Granger. How can we help you?” she asked as she stepped fully into the room.</p><p>“Well,” he shifted his glasses, “I’m the new assistant of the Minister.”</p><p>“What happened to, uh, what was his name?” Draco asked.</p><p>“Oh! Uh, I think it was Otto,” Hermione said happily as she took a seat behind the desk.</p><p>“Yes Otto Fenrin. They had to unfortunately let him go,” Ignatius let out a little cough. </p><p>“Bout time. He was shit at his job. Never liked giving us work just because Hermione wouldn’t go out with him,” Malfoy scoffed.</p><p>“Malfoy! That’s not why. He never brought us onto anything because you always intimidated him into a weeping sad mess after he asked me out and I declined.”</p><p>“That however is not why I am here. We have a situation currently that I would like to have you guys be brought in on. I am sorry this is so sudden and not very formal. Under different circumstances I would have sent an owl in advance to set up an appointment to go over details. Right now, though we are pressed for time and I am hoping a resourceful set of eyes on the situation will help the Aurors,” Ignatius rang his hands together nervously.</p><p>Malfoy finally stood up towering over the tiny man, “we’ll think about it.” Ignatius balked at him and looked at Hermione for reassurance.</p><p>“Ignore him. We will definitely do the job,” she hesitated to shake the man's hand due to him profusely sweating. Malfoy scoffed.</p><p>His face lit up for the first time during his visit, “oh good! Here’s a portkey. It’s set up to take you to the location in…” he looked at his watch, “seventeen minutes.” Before they could get any more answers out of him, he hastily put the portkey on the desk and left their shop. </p><p>“That wasn’t weird at all,” Draco drawled sarcastically as he went into their office to get his duffle bag of basic gear. “Wish I knew what to bring. If only the small Twiggy man gave us some details on what we are going to be dealing with,” he walked back into the main room to see Hermione standing there nervously.</p><p>“What’s wrong with you?” He asked.</p><p>“Uh, it's nothing. It may be something. He mentioned the Aurors are involved so there may be a chance that Harry will be there,” she bit her lip nervously.</p><p>“Why is that a big deal. Last time I checked you guys are friends. Shouldn’t he be happy to see you,” he added a few things to the bag from the desk drawer. </p><p>“Yeah… I’m sure it’ll be fine. Let's go,” she cooled her worried expression.</p><p>“Also, you were the one that agreed so eagerly to accept the job,” he added.</p><p>“Yes, Malfoy because we need the money and the Ministry pays real well for their consultants,” she answered. </p><p>“I guess we’re going to find out,” Malfoy grabbed the portkey and stuck it out so Granger could grab it. When the clock hit the afternoon hour they were whisked away.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I don't have any real set in stone schedule for when I will post future chapters but hopefully you won't have to wait too long :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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